When beads gets another meaning

I was never a jewelry kind of girl (before), so that is perhaps why I’ve never sat down to create that kind of stuff to wear. It was just not interesting to me, because I didn’t need any of that. Earrings makes my ears itch and I’m not good at matching a necklace with what I will be wearing so I don’t. I just usually skip that part of dressing. But maybe all that will change now? I don’t know yet, though I now have found yet another hobby that I love!

Look at this photo (courtesy of my brother) and take a wild guess what my new hobby is?

What happened was that mom got a really cool book about beads for her birthday last year. We both liked the stuff that was featured in this book and decided to sit down and make something from it! We especially liked the heart, shaped with metallic jewelry thread, so we started with those instructions and gathered both our stashes of beads, pearls, strings and trinkets…

I’ve read several books about beading and I love how beautiful and inspiring they all are. But the one that got me curious is called Smycken du kan g?ra sj?lv and is written by Annika Larsson. It’s nothing special about it, except those hearts… They are fabulous!

We have been sitting for several evenings and creating mostly necklaces but also some bracelets. I haven’t taken proper photos of my creations yet because I’ve been busy a couple of nights creating them, sitting by the kitchen table. I have used beads in many projects before, like on my art dolls, but like I said, this material now has a new meaning to me. Jewelery!

Mom has a lot of different beads, mostly plastic ones, and a whole range of different colored rocaille beads that she use for her knitted wrist warmers. They are tiny but looks great in between bigger ones! My favorite this time was the red ones in this box:

Mmmmm! Yummy red beads!

The first thing I made was this heart - all wrapped in gorgeous red beads! They are both fun and easy to make. After this one I couldn’t stop and continued to make more necklaces in other colors.

And as easy as that I was hooked!

I don’t believe people who say “stick to one thing until you know it”, hehe. I don’t know nada and I’m having so much fun in the process of discovering new materials and techniques. So I say, craft on everybody!

Is there something you have wanted to try, like, for ever? I have a long list, and it is growing by the minute!

Hah, you caught the bug! I’m the same way, I hardly ever know what jewelry I’m wearing or if I’m even wearing any. My mother-in-law has been working with beads since she started making beaded roses with her mother during the Depression in the 30’s and she makes most of her jewelry. Every year when we go on vacation together she visits this one jewelery supply shop. Until this year I have always been able to resist picking up yet another craft, but this year I got hooked. I now have jars of beads and drawers of tools and my dear relatives keep giving me more. It is a useful skill, though. You’ll never have to buy another present for your friends again, just more beads to make them a special something.

I love your heart. It is very sparkly, shiny and cool. Hm, maybe it could be modified into earrings? . . .

A coworker of mine was really into beading and made really interesting pieces of jewelry. She showed me different techniques in magazines. She invited me over once to bead with her and was kind enough to let me use her supplies, it was fun but I couldn’t get into it as a hobby. It felt time consuming and I was all thumbs when it came to handling the delicate glass beads. I love what people produce from this craft though, it’s gorgeous!